Since the stamp duty holiday finished at the end of last year, there have been calls from the housing and home owner loan industry as well as consumers, for a change to the current structure of the stamp duty system.

It was therefore no great surprise, when the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced yesterday in his Budget speech that the threshold for stamp duty would increase to £250,000, from the current level of just £125,000, but for first time buyers only.

The cut in stamp duty is aimed at encouraging more potential first time buyers to enter the housing and home owner loan market, allowing them to use the money from the stamp duty saving to put towards their deposit in order to be able to get the home owner loan they require.

The savings for first time buyers will be paid for by those people purchasing property at the other end of the housing market, with stamp duty increasing to 5 per cent on all properties over the value of £1 million.

Although the reduction in stamp duty is undoubtedly a great help and an encouragement for first time buyers, offering a saving of up to £2,500, many experts in the housing and home owner loan markets claim that the chancellor still has not done enough to help this struggling sector of the market.

Despite saving money on stamp duty, many would be first time buyers are still unable to afford the cost of a home owner loan, or save sufficient funds to raise enough of a deposit to meet lenders’ strict criteria on maximum loan to value ratios and many believe that until banks and building societies relax their criteria on loan to value and tight underwriting, first time buyers will continue to struggle to get onto the housing ladder.